Camino

I got up at 6 and left the hostel at 7.05. It was not raining and quite cool. I felt confident enough though lots of "what ifs" went through my mind last night.
Most of the town was walking up the first hill to go to a mass in the Santuario . From there I briefly chatted with a young Polish man who had walked from Poland, 90 days,, and counting.
We took the advice of two old men, to follow the left arrow, and then I got off track. I was not worried, at first, as I headed for the water., seeing that it is a coastal walk, I deduced. Bad choice, down, down and down the trail I went,.oops, big cliff, so up, up, up I went. Phew, then I was walking along a road and a man pulled over and said what are you doing walking here. Lost says I, lost says he. He set me on the path, which was just above the road, and it turned out I was back on track after an extra 2 hours of up and down a pretty long and rather steep hill. The walking sticks in the garage in Lincoln would be handy. . I felt much better seeing yellow arrows, let me tell you., and I kept tellinh myself that too, as I got a bit stressed when I was off track. I told myself to remember that they say the Camino takes care and provides. I am so glad to be able to talk, and ask for directions in Spanish. .
The cliff walk was very scenic but when I got to the part where there was cables in the rocks to hold on too cause it was steep, I had a meltdown. I got stuck on grandfather mountain in SC many years ago, relating to a steep rock and cable. At that time I was terrified, so this time I was too. I did not appreciate the beauty of that part. I just put one foot in front of the other and went between fear, anger and telling.myself to just do it. So I did, and then had a tortilla and a coffee and a magnum. Ice cream bar in the little harbor. Rejuvenated and feeling fresh again, even though I had been walking for 6 hours, I set off for San Sebastián. I thought it was really far. I asked a walker who was at a bench on the prom if this was indeed San Sebastián. "Oui" he responded and then spoke at length to me in French. Hmm, says I, this is Spain now, so I am not as bothered that I do not understand. He had no English so we did a couple of Japanese type bows and I hit the beach. I was so happy to know I had a room booked, as that is the next leap of faith for me, to just walk and get a room when I am tired.
After all that, going in to a bar full of people, ordering pinxtos and vino tinto was a piece of cake.
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